but not today about something important welcome to Cytosport manuscript Aldo. That's something important is the fact that mental health affects your whole life. What do you want it to or not? What I mean is you can't say, while I struggle anxiety, disorder, but not during my work, debt or I have panic attacks but united go to the bathroom and hyper wild minutes. Ok, the thing is, if you don't deal with the root problem, to always be fixing situational issues. Only that you real resolution, why am I talking about this? Well, as I said it's important, but also, I really appreciate the person in today story being open about her process, so it doesn't back, relate this personal, the Chicago ART student, who discovered a love of natural dies and went on to create a thriving business. So we're gonna talk about her business. Of course she turns the creative process into this business. She doing really well, as was able.

A full time with it, but also along the way she encountered. Some challenges, some issues with anxiety and depression, which Mention from time to time on the programme is something that I deal with and in her case she said it took a long time, but I finally got the help. I need it and if I were to do anything differently, I would seek out help sooner. I am so much stronger and decisive because of it are so, as I said, mental health effects, your whole life, whether you wanted to or not having any kind of struggle. It's important to get help. I've done that myself and I also wish I'd done. It sooner ended in to helping my life in general. It's also helped my business just being able to to focus more unwillingness to take care of myself so without further ado, bringing that story of an introverted Chicago art student who creates a thriving business right after this shot out to our spots.

Stay tuned while attending the school of the ART Institute of Chicago Lydia Crespo, a class class dots thinking, it would add a skelter report. Little did you know it would become her specialty. The first timely experienced the dye process, her hands understood just how to use them. It's not like an extension of herself and our interest increased even more when she learned the chemistry behind art, Lydia kept playing with thy formulas. Nor spare time made many silk scarves in the process for school had a studio cell So let us decide to try selling her scarves to make a little money to put back into her art, though scarves sold out, but he realized she might have something here and start a brand called argument and defiance why that name while it may have been destiny, Lydia

Two dies because her name literally means make her a purple cloth when she was About making dies she tended to produce purple purple is considered a difficult die to formulate this led her to the hebrew word argument, which refers to the call range crimson to purple and defiance is the name of the town where she visit her grandparents and developed for love of nature. Lydia graduated. During a time when there were many jobs, she settled on one working in a gallery, not a dream job, but it helped pay the bills. During this time, Lydia told her, then boyfriend now husband that she desperately needed to keep working with those dies soon after she came home one evening to find all their bedroom fracture moved into the living room. He had converted there only bedroom into her own arts video, so Lydia immediately got work. She had received a grant of fifteen hundred dollars to Hell

continue in artistic artistic gruff and she use those funds for start cost. She bought a domain name, set up a website and continued her textile education in order to grow argument. In defiance she applied to be in many pop up markets at first she was rejected, but she kept applying and was eventually accepted to the dose market in Chicago, where her scarves sold out once Lydia then began selling wholesale to partakes across the country. She travelled to cite markets in cities wherever she thought people by our products, and she stayed in extra day to make contact with local boutiques these its letter to her first profitable year and now argument in defiance in sixty partakes across the: U S and Canada, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, because all this time she was working that regular job at a gallery.

One day she learned at the building the gallery was aunt was being foreclosed on. She believed that if she didn't panic and instead pushed a little harder, she could turn her brand into her full time. Job foreclosure takes a while, so Lydia use the time to expand or product line in increasing. After her job ended, she was able to go online with argument and defiance. So, as I alluded to in the beginning, let's look at some challenges that are a bit different than what we normally consider as the only employee in the business. Lydia is responsible for all decisions. If something needs improvement, she is the only one who can see the issue and figure out how to solve it, and this can be overwhelming. It comes with some freedom, of course, but it can also be overwhelming and as the business was taking off, she was also struggling depression and anxiety. She knew she was going to continue to be successful and keep going. She would need to get help dealing with some past emotional trauma, so she got that help. She began sing at their past and gain some coping skills as well,

Inside into herself and hear something else being an introverted which, by the way, I am too as well shut up to our interview, TAT, their Lydia originally thought working on her own was her ideal situation, but she began to notice that after attending Chicago meet ups with other artisan entrepreneurs, she felt energized becoming dates and ass. She puts it. There is so much failure decision making in isolation and entrepreneurship. It was nice to see other women and hear their stories of success and failure to help me understand

I'm not alone, and what I do is worthwhile. Two years ago, Lydia moved with her husband to Saint looks where argument in defiance is now housed in a local arts and there she is able to connect with the other artisans every day she stood s plenty of alone time, but also finds that our mental health is much better working alongside friends, one of the new products she's known for is a cosy sweatshirt with a modern tidy effect. Lydia cuts sows and dies each piece by hand in the winter of twenty nineteen, her cosy, sweatshirts sold so well that she couldn't keep them in stock and she's. Now, work of brands, including target west in urban outfitters last year, argument in defiance gross seventy nine thousand dollars with a profit of thirty five thousand dollars. What are your plans to continue, making cosy, apparel and sharing her? Aren't you local workshops also because it's in our full time job, she started a new site, hustle writing essays about the creative process.

So as a business, not first, I love her website. The website for argument interface is just a stellar example. I think for anyone doing textiles or are really any kind of e commerce, but textiles, clothing, etc. In particular, she's got a great about section. She's got great section, highlighting press she's got little how to wear videos in case you like. I want to buy this cape, this big scarf and which really cool. But how do you actually, where it matters a video that shows you how to do it? She's got a sale, section, four items that that had some kind of minor problem or blemish with them and she's got a wholesale section where you can can log in if you have an approved account to purchase wholesale. So I just think this is the kind of thing that can really take off further and its great that she was able to to gross eighty thousand dollars with it last year, but I think I can probably be a lot more

So maybe in the future we get an update from her about that. Also just getting back to this point of seeking help. You know at the at the beginning. I chaired this quote of hers. It took a long time, but I finally got the help. I need it. If I were to do anything differently, I seek out help sooner, I'm stronger and more decisive because of it so same situation. For me also, something else she said is asked for help. If you need it, the Mississippi any kind of help riots. Not necessarily you don't just these issues that I'm talking about, she said, there's no shame in asking for help. I don't care if its emotional help financial or just someone to put a price tag on your items before an event. This is not a sprint, so make sure you're not running yourself into the crowd. Thank you so much Liddy. I appreciate you being so open and transparent with our listeners, that many of them will come and check out your shop online and perhaps locally for those in the greater Saint Louis.

Ok, friends and listeners. Thank you so much as well hope you enjoy it. Inspiration is guide for inspiration. What action is so much better? I really enjoy making Michel for you. I feel very grateful for the chance to do it every day. Come check out those show notes at sight of school dot com, slash, nine, six, nine. Story is come up tomorrow and I hope you will join me once again this year to subscribe. To tell your friends it's completely free. My name is critical about Is cider so small. From the onward projects.